IS-NITRO-EMULATOR: Run Flashcart?

[gudenau]

Is it possible to use a flash cart with the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR? It would be great to be able to use one for save files and slightly easier switching of games, instead of having to process them all in an XP box after dumping, I could just run the dumped images directly. I have a Supercard DSTWO and I attempted to just run the `dstwo.nds` file renamed to `dstwo.srl` but it didn't work.

 

[FAST6191]

Not sure what value this has over the user made emulators but the same principles apply generally.

For the most part no. Flash carts are their own hardware that speak their own protocols which the firmwares/kernels expect to see. Most DS files released by them will also be update files, and dumps will tend to be for modern ones whatever bait and switch things people used to get past the DSi and 3ds blocks ( https://hackmii.com/2010/02/lawsuit-coming-in-3-2-1/ ) unless you manage to dump it from running hardware in which case better chance of things.
There have been a few that were hacked to work with emulators, but they will tend to be with the protocols removed or at least their failure points when it does not get the responses it expects sorted out such that people can make screenshots of their custom skins or get things for a review.

I am similarly not away of any user made multi menus outside of a very early homebrew only effort. There would be scope to make one. I have similarly not investigated any of the 2 in 1/X in 1 games you get sometimes which can also be targets for replacement of a few things on older systems, nor am I aware of any functional equivalents (stuff like the phantasy star collection on the GBA is 3 games with a menu to select which, you tend to meet these when you are trying to do cheats for them and having to find master codes which go away when the game is selected because it effectively wipes memory and boots something else).

 

[Jayro]

Do you have the IS-NITRO hardware?

 

[gudenau]

Not sure what value this has over the user made emulators but the same principles apply generally.

For the most part no. Flash carts are their own hardware that speak their own protocols which the firmwares/kernels expect to see. Most DS files released by them will also be update files, and dumps will tend to be for modern ones whatever bait and switch things people used to get past the DSi and 3ds blocks ( https://hackmii.com/2010/02/lawsuit-coming-in-3-2-1/ ) unless you manage to dump it from running hardware in which case better chance of things.
There have been a few that were hacked to work with emulators, but they will tend to be with the protocols removed or at least their failure points when it does not get the responses it expects sorted out such that people can make screenshots of their custom skins or get things for a review.

I am similarly not away of any user made multi menus outside of a very early homebrew only effort. There would be scope to make one. I have similarly not investigated any of the 2 in 1/X in 1 games you get sometimes which can also be targets for replacement of a few things on older systems, nor am I aware of any functional equivalents (stuff like the phantasy star collection on the GBA is 3 games with a menu to select which, you tend to meet these when you are trying to do cheats for them and having to find master codes which go away when the game is selected because it effectively wipes memory and boots something else).

But this is done in hardware, the flash cartridge is physically inserted into the device. I suppose I'm not sure how the flash carts get the data across, thinking about it a bit it's definitely not the SPI stuff for saves because that would be too slow, so maybe it's just not possible with the virtual cartridge that's built into the IS-NITRO-EMULATOR.

Do you have the IS-NITRO hardware?

Yes.

 

[FAST6191]

My bad. Was thinking ensata but the same things apply.

DS cart protocol. http://www.problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#dscartridgeprotocol
SPI is only saves and I guess pokemon pokewalker (it sits it behind a selection for the IR comms and save stuff), not sure what goes for wappy dog or ds serial.

To that end back at either exploring the X in 1 games the DS might have got ( http://advanscene.com/html/dbsearch.php# says there are a handful) or creating such. On older systems things were either recoded to handle it (nightmare to sort for the ROM hacker but with the file system might not be so bad) or a quasi flash cart was made (closest to the modern world might be see some of the NES challenge runs where simpler mapper games get swapped out to be multiple games running at once). DS being a largely compiled system has some questions rise but equally if the ? in 1 stuff acts as a menu and shoves in a new ARM9 and can set a virtual/new table for the nitroFS you could get something going on (give or take AP and save issues, the former being largely sorted and the latter probably can be handled as well), and if you can persuade something to overwrite the ARM9 (and arm7 if suitably different) and do different file system lookups (if needed, sometimes it is name based and you might not have conflicts, overlays are kind of different but also not that bad).

 

[gudenau]

My bad. Was thinking ensata but the same things apply.

DS cart protocol. http://www.problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#dscartridgeprotocol
SPI is only saves and I guess pokemon pokewalker (it sits it behind a selection for the IR comms and save stuff), not sure what goes for wappy dog or ds serial.

To that end back at either exploring the X in 1 games the DS might have got ( http://advanscene.com/html/dbsearch.php# says there are a handful) or creating such. On older systems things were either recoded to handle it (nightmare to sort for the ROM hacker but with the file system might not be so bad) or a quasi flash cart was made (closest to the modern world might be see some of the NES challenge runs where simpler mapper games get swapped out to be multiple games running at once). DS being a largely compiled system has some questions rise but equally if the ? in 1 stuff acts as a menu and shoves in a new ARM9 and can set a virtual/new table for the nitroFS you could get something going on (give or take AP and save issues, the former being largely sorted and the latter probably can be handled as well), and if you can persuade something to overwrite the ARM9 (and arm7 if suitably different) and do different file system lookups (if needed, sometimes it is name based and you might not have conflicts, overlays are kind of different but also not that bad).

My guess with the N in 1 games is it just loads a slightly tweeked binary with a different root path, but I honestly don't know.

I'm wondering how the RAM(?) cart in this thing works, is there any documentation on that?